blogger family goes to austin

 well, miguel & i traveled to austin, texas for the second annual blogger family meet-up! it was fantastic. we took rapid transit all the way to the airport which was quite interesting. it took a bit to get there, but it wasn't too bad. miguel doesn't like flying, so he was pretty brave getting on a flight that was over three hours long. i'm proud of him for that.

once we got there, we were soooo excited!! haha. i love this photo that nicola took of us at the austin airport. i seriously was that excited.

 it was so nice to see bloggers from last year. i couldn't believe that it had already been a year since we met face-to-face in seattle. here are natalie & nicola being glamorous.

 i also got to meet new bloggers as well! this is the lovely kaylie.

 i also was so happy to see nicola for the third time!

 in austin, i would say the best part of the trip (besides being with awesome bloggers) was the food! i loved the food there! & i was pleasantly surprised to find that there were many vegetarian options in all of the menus. this photo below was when we went to snack bar. so good!! maggie (our host) did such a good job taking us to the best restaurants!

 i had to try this mozzarella grilled cheese...!!!

 there was also quite a bit of cute romantic wall art in the streets ;)

 the next time we will be meeting up will be for when these two get married ;) the blogger family gave them this chalkboard as an engagement gift.

 shelby & sam also just adopted a new beagle puppy they named benny & were skyping him ;) too cute.

 we went so many places & did so many things. it was some serious fun. this is at bennu coffee where they had literature inspired drinks : )

 bananarchy! frozen banana galore.

 mozart's had a nice little patio to eat breakfast at.

 probably one of my most favorite stores we went to was uncommon objects. it's a must see & shop for austin in my opinion. miguel even liked it & he doesn't really like vintage & antique shopping ;)

 all of us got dressed up for a fancy dinner at matt's famous el rancho. everyone looked so good! (although i didn't actually get pictures of their outfits :/)

 i'm really gonna miss them. love my blogger family buddies.

miguel & i were sad to leave. we had such a great time & made so many amazing & funny memories with these super bloggers that we had just spent a week with. in the airport while we were waiting for our plane, i started getting emotional. ahhh...only 10 more months until the next meet-up! i am so blessed to have found such wonderful people via the blogosphere. love you guys!

so many things!

photos:

1 & 2: my family took a very spontaneous trip to the coast. we rented this little blue cottage & enjoyed one cozy night. my sister came & visited after coming back from peru! so it was really nice to see her : ) she borrowed my copy of mindy kaling's book, is everyone hanging out without me? to read. she reads so much faster than me!

3 & 4: i rode in the bike-a-thon! i get to cross off another thing on my list! melissa rode with me & miguel came to be my cheerleader : ) i biked a total of 20 miles! i wanted to do more, but on my 10th mile, i got into a crash. i banged up my crotch area pretty bad, scraped my knee (it was ugly & bloody) & the handlebar baned into my chest. i was in pain, but i managed to get back up & bike 10 more miles! i think i was crazy haha. it took a week for my crotch & chest to heal up & lose the black & blue color. my knee is still healing! a big thank you to amy & carissa for sponsoring me!! you are awesome!!

5, 6, 7, & 8: my friend holly started up a crafting club & asked me to be a part of it! i was flattered : ) we had an outing last weekend & went on an art walk, visiting local galleries & hearing poetry from local poets. it was such a lovely day!

9: holly's cat luna. she is so sweet!

10: i finally got an iphone 5! i've never had an iphone & have been wanting one for so long. miguel works for at&t & traveled via train to his store & bought one from him. i was so excited haha.

11 & 12: later that same day, miguel took me out for a fancy date! we got to sit at the chef's table & watch the food be prepared. it was so so fun! the waitresses were so very nice. one even went to the garden outside of the restaurant to pick me some lovely flowers. it was such a great night.

13, 14, & 15: us..just being us.

so, that is a mini catch-up for the past two weeks or so! i've been so very busy & stressed with thesis work. the deadline is fast approaching & i'm feeling the time crunch! i'm at about 75 pages so far & i've never thought i would be able to write that much. but i did. & that's crazy.

number seven: make a terrarium

 lizzie & i made terrariums together! i don't know how long i have wanted to make a terrarium, but i sure am glad that i added it to my 25 things to do before i turn 26 list!

lizzie & i met at a little local, city farm & checked out the greenhouse for plants for our terrariums.

 there were so many plants! it was a little hard to find succulents small enough to fit in our small containers, but we were happy with what we found.

 back at my home a couple of days later, we assembled our terrariums. i watched a few videos for info.

 i just love how my terrariums turned out!! i want to make more...